Jumping ... for Czech potato dumpings

By CRISTINA MAS
School of Communication
University of Miami

PRAGUE— A juicy sirloin cooked in a thick cream sauce and served with potato dumplings can make just about anyone’s mouth water.

Goulash contains a tangy brown sauce loaded with beef and is a classic dish for the Czech people.

Because the foods of the Czech Republic are so diverse and traditional, the only way to fully appreciate and enjoy it is to follow this simple guide to the best of the best of native dishes. These are not only made at home, but also found in most restaurants.

Czech food is much like other national food in the region and visitors will find similarities to that found in nearby Austria and Germany. The food is loaded with pork and beef and served with potatoes, salads and breads.

Visitors will find native foods are served on large plates with similarly big servings.

To start off your dining experience, you will begin with a decadent soup as an appetizer. The soups typically served in Prague are Garlic soups, beef soups, or soups that have chicken and noodles inside them. What is a better way to start off your dining experience with a hot bowl of delicious pleasure.

The traditional main course usually consists of pork (veprove) or beef (hovezi).For example, there is a dish called veprove knedlik a zeli, which is roasted pork with dumplings and cabbage. Every meat is usually smothered by some kind a sauce whether cream or gravy. Do not be afraid, though, because your meat will not go alone. Meat is usually accompanied by its loyal friend “the side dish of potatoes.

They have potatoes of all kinds here and are quite popular. They are served in every restaurant as a side dish to the main course. You could choose between French fries, baked potatoes, pan-fried potatoes, garlic potatoes, boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes and, last but not least, the famous dumplings which one seems to jump for.

Dumplings (knedliky) are not only traditional, but create the perfect balance of the meaty dish. Dumplings consist of either potato or bread. Not only could you eat bread or potato dumplings, but they also serve dessert dumplings which are also known as fruit dumplings.

Blueberry dumplings never strike out in the game of best desserts. If you enjoy other fruits you have assorted fruit dumplings, which will satisfy your sweet tooth.

Dessert is an issue not to be taken lightly. The desserts are often the highlight of the Prague meal. Cooks make pancakes which are really crepes with a certain fruit smothered with whip crème. Depending what place you go, you could also find jam inside these crepes.

Ice cream is also participates on the hierarchy of the dessert menu. Some restaurants have banana splits which can literally be a split banana with whip cream or sometimes will be added with a scoop of that good old vanilla. Apple strudel is also part of this dessert hierarchy which all of you know contain a wonderful apple taste.

At Pod Viktorkou, a local family-run restaurant located at Seifertova 55 in Praha 3 that serves both neighborhood residents and tourists outside of the Old Town area, some of the most popular dishes are centered on beef and pork.

For instance, one popular dish contains a sirloin with cream sauce accompanied with bread dumplings (svickova na smetane houskovy knedlik). They also have boiled pork meat with sauerkraut, which is called knedlo zelo vepro. More tourists visit the restaurant to eat than the locals according to Jarmila Venclova, a 25-year-old waitress at Pod Viktorkou.

“Czech people come here to drink,” she said with a smile on her face. “I like to eat here because I do not like to cook.”

She is typical of the active generation of young Czechs. Young people usually like to eat out. Jan Krupka, a waiter at U Medvidku, a traditional Czech restaurant, explained that young Czechs prefer to eat fast food and save time instead of the more traditional foods and restaurants that their parents prefer.

“Teenagers like eating at fast foods because they like experiencing different international cuisines and getting experienced on meals from abroad,” he said.

Czech teenagers enjoy eating pizza and buying burgers at McDonald’s.

“Young people usually do not feel like cooking, so they eat out a lot,” he said.

Nevertheless, Jan Krupka, 32, enjoys eating traditional Czech meals within the privacy of his own home.

“I prefer home meals,” he stated boldly, “because you can prepare ingredients carefully and with more detail. In the pub, it goes without saying. At home, I can prepare meals according to my favorite recipe.”

U Medvidku’s food, although not prepared with as much attention to personal preferences as home cooking, it still provides an assortment of popular dishes. Diners could have a beef stew filet with a thick cream sauce. There is also roasted pork along with white bread dumplings and cabbage stew. Traditional desserts found in this small pub are pancakes, sweet fruit dumplings stuffed with jam and fruits, as well as apples strudel.

Whether you like to eat out or just have a drink and enjoy the beautiful atmosphere of Prague, there are various places where you can sit over a bottle of beer or a cup of cappuccino.

Smoking in restaurants is common, so if you do not appreciate second-hand smoke you would need to find an area that appears smoke free.

Vegetarians might have it hard, but restaurants usually have vegetarian dishes such as pasta or steamed broccoli, which will not let down our vegetarian eaters.

Whether young or old, traditional Czech food appeals to everyone, especially to those who love meat and potatoes. What could go wrong with that?

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